Once a growing cycle has passed, crops from the past cycle are routinely destroyed prior to the planting of the next generation. One method of destroying the crops involves spraying the fields with a chemical herbicide that kills the crops and accelerates deterioration of the stalks. However, this method is relatively expensive and the runoff chemicals may be damaging to the environment. Further, a chemical means of destroying crops is not acceptable to organic growers.
Most current methods of mechanically destroying and mulching crops utilize relatively linear cutting or mulching surfaces that are designed based on the assumption that the surface of the affected field is essentially flat. Although the crops on the elevated portions of these fields may be destroyed, any crops in the field's furrows are not effectively reached by conventional mechanical methods.
The need exists for a mechanical means of crimping and mulching crops that addresses both the crops in the furrows as well as the crops in the elevated portions of the field. The current invention is designed to effectively destroy and mulch all crops including those grown on the upper surface of elevated beds and those grown in the furrows between the beds.